Cincinnati Women’s Basketball Returns to Form, Tops USF 60-55

The Cincinnati women’s basketball team returned to form on Sunday afternoon, posting a come-from-behind victory against perennial AAC power South Florida. The victory came in front of a strong home crowd of more than 1,100 at Fifth Third Arena and a national television audience on ESPNU.

The 60-55 victory over USF came on the heels of a tough mid-week defeat at UConn, 80-50.

The Bearcats, who improved to 14-7 overall and 5-3 in the conference with the win, fell behind early against the Bulls, who are 13-9 overall and 5-3 in the American.

USF held a 19-13 advantage after one quarter, buoyed by the play of their all-conference point guard Elisa Pinzan. Pinzan, who hails from Italy, played all 40 minutes and netted a game-high 19 points.

By the time the teams headed back to the locker room, USF expanded its lead to nine, 32-23. Cincinnati’s inability to assert itself on the boards played a major role in the deficit. For the game, USF overwhelmed the Bearcats 44-30 in rebounding.

Cincinnati’s second-half comeback was engineered by the team’s veteran leadership. Seniors Angel Rizor (16 points), Antoinette Miller (14 points), and Sam Rodgers (10 points) all reached double figures. The Bearcats’ defensive efforts paid off considerably in the second half. Miller recorded a career-high 8 steals in the game, 6 of which came in the second half.

Miller and the Bearcats took control of the game in its final period, holding USF to just 5 points and forcing 11 turnovers.

Cincinnati returns to action next Saturday afternoon as they head down to Dallas for a faceoff with the SMU Mustangs. Check back with Down the Drive for full coverage of the contest.